We can tend to think that being perpetually tired all the time is a sign of just getting older and maybe having too many things on our plate. Sure, spreading ourselves too thin and using language like, I can sleep when I’m dead certainly don’t help with maintaining and keeping our energy. But it’s not always the case. More often than not, I see a lack of energy in a lot of my clients is directly associated with not exactly what we’re eating (don’t worry, this is not a post about removing major food groups or starting a diet), but rather how we’re eating and paying attention to our unique energy patterns.

Here are three ways that you can start to increase your natural energy. Also, don’t forget to snag the FREE action guide at the bottom of the post so you can get started today!

Identify Your Energy Pattern: Remember when we talked about the energy roller coaster? It’s important to determine and identify your unique energy pattern. Not all of us fall into the same patterns – naturally because we’re all different. Identifying your unique energy pattern can shed a lot of light on when your energy slumps and helps you figure out where you might need to put a little more attention and focus to course correct. In the action guide, we break down the exact steps you need to take in order to identify your energy pattern.

The first step to doing this is bringing some extra awareness around it. First, we need to start to pay attention. To get started, ask yourself the following questions:

Am I someone that wakes up feeling energized? Or do I wake up completely glued to my bed?

Do I need caffeine or food to boost my energy?

If I sit down and really think about it, can I start to see a pattern in my energy throughout the day?

Introduce More Color:When we think about making changes nutritionally, we tend to think about what we need to give up. But what if instead of thinking about what you have to give up, we switch the script and think about what we can add! Wait, what?! Add foods. Yup – that’s right. Like we discussed in ouraccidental sabotages, it’s not about removing foods, but rather increasing different foods to help increase and nutrients and abundant energy.

Instead of thinking about removing foods and all that you’re doing wrong, why not make our plates a little more colorful and fun? One big move you can start to make today to start to increase your energy and nutrients is to think of our plates in colors rather than food groups. The more colorful the plate, the more fiber and nutrients that feed our cells to give us the energy we’re looking for. Plus, how much fun and beautiful is it to have a plate full of gorgeous colors?!

Monitor Your Movement: This action step can be a tough one mainly for a couple of reasons – it’s hard to find the right balance between exercising too much and not enough, but also… if you’re low on energy it is INCREDIBLY difficult to get the motivation and energy to start. Sound familiar? It’s so easy to say, oh, I should hit the gym or go to a yoga class after work, but if you’re going through your day dragging, how are you supposed to magically have the energy and desire to go get some movement in? It’s tough. But essential in shifting the tides. But, where I see a lot of confusion is in getting started. We tend towards the all in or all out mentality when it comes to this – myself included. Now, I just had a baby so my desire and energy to even conceive of exercising is pretty much nonexistent. But I’m perfectly fine with that – that’s where I am and I need to listen to my body. You also need to listen to your body. If you’re feeling completely exhausted after your workouts and not feeling energized, then it’s time to take a step back and evaluate if you’re doing too much. If you’re completely lacking the motivation and energy to get started, it’s time to start making moves in the direction of changing that. That doesn’t necessarily mean signing up for classpass or declaring you’re going to go to the gym every day next week (that’s not entirely realistic). It means, meeting yourself where you are and maybe that means working on the other steps you can take to start increasing your energy so you have more of it to get some movement in your day. Perhaps that means deciding that one day this week you’re going to go for a walk. The point is, to listen to your body and act accordingly. You got this and meet yourself where you are, not where you think you “should” be.

Ready to get started? Snag your copy of the FREE Unlock Your Energy Action Guide to get you started today!